Norwegian Association for Pleasure Sailing, 1884-1905

image byJan Oskar Engene

On 7 February 1883 the Norsk Forening for Lystseilads (NFL, Norwegian Association
for Pleasure Sailing) was formed. By Royal Resolution of 6 December 1884 boats
belonging to the NFL was granted the right to use the Norwegian war ensign with
the addition of the royal cipher in gold on a white field set in the centre of
the cross. At the time, Norway was in union with Sweden under a common king, Oscar
II. Consequently, the flag had the Norwegian-Swedishunion
mark in the canton (originally introduced to the war ensign in 1844) and the
cipher of Oscar II on the white field.Jan Oskar Engene, 11 September 1998

Royal Norwegian Yacht Club, 1906-1958

image byJan Oskar Engene

In 1903 the NFL reorganized and changed names to Kongelig Norsk Seilforening
(KNS, Royal Norwegian Yacht Club). However, the flag of the yacht club remained
unchanged until the dissolution of the union with Sweden on 7 June 1905. Upon
the dissolution of the union with Sweden, the KNS used for a short time the
Norwegian civil ensign.

By Royal Resolution of 27 January 1906 the new king, Haakon VII, granted
KNS the right to use the Norwegian war ensign, now without the union mark, with
the addition of the royal cipher in gold on a white field in the centre of the
cross. Photographic evidence suggests that the KNS flag used a cipher different
from the one usually associated with Haakon VII, especially in the later years
of his reign. The flag of the KNS carrying the cipher of Haakon VII was used
to the end of 1958.Jan Oskar Engene, 11 September 1998

The lion on top of the crown was introduced with the Royal Resolution on
the arms of Norway on 14 December 1905 and was even included in the early cypher
of Haakon VII.

This peculiar element had never appeared on the arms of Norway before and
the lion on the crown can only be explained as a misunderstanding made by the
artist who did the model artwork for the arms. Apparently he misunderstood the
lion found on the helmet in the seal of King Hakon VI and transferred it to
the crown on the 1905 arms. The mistake was quickly discovered and the lion
gradually disappeared from official representations of the arms, a process finalized
with a new Royal Resolution on the arms of Norway dated 19 March 1937. Nevertheless,
the lion survived in the emblem and flag of the KNS until Olav V became king.Jan Oskar Engene, 13 September 1998

The "lion on top of the crown" might have been used longer in the yacht club
flag than in government usage such as coins, etc. Heraldists spotted the mistake
quite soon, and the mistake was gradually removed. Naturally, it can still be
found on buildings etc. Last I saw the lion on top of the crown was a couple
of days ago - in television coverage from Washington, DC. The Norwegian embassy
there had an old version of the coat of arms cut in stone on the facade.

Jan Oskar Engene, 31 October 2001

We note that the "h7"-cypher is rather unusual, different from the well-known
"H7"-cypher. To check the theory of it being an earlier cipher I checked A catalog
of Modern World Coins 1850-1964 - R.S. Yeoman. It pictures a 2 o/re coin of
1907, coinage 1906-1907 showing a cipher "H VII". Next is a piece from 1910,
coinage 1908-1952, which uses the "H7"-cypher. So if it is an older cipher,
it was apparently used for only a very short time. TH, it might have been an
alternative cipher, like the two versions for the cipher for King Harald the
Fifth [seebelow].Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 31 October 2001

The cipher in the flag changed. Originally the h7 cipher had the lion on
top of the crown, but it was removed at some point. Unfortunately I have not
been able to establish when. I have a few of the KNS yearbooks, and the h7 cipher
without lion was shown in the 1956 edition. This makes me question whether the
H7 cipher was used at all.

So to sum up: We know that during the reign of Haakon VII the emblem in the
KNS ensign took two forms: h7 with "lioned" crown, and h7 with "unlioned". What
remains to be investigated is whether a third form of the cipher, the H7 cipher,
was also used in the KNS ensign.Jan Oskar Engene, 2 November 2001

Royal Norwegian Yacht Club, 1958-1991

image byJan Oskar Engene

Olav V became king upon the death of his father Haakon VII and the cipher
of the new king was put on the flag of the KNS. The new flag was hoisted for
the first time on 4 May 1958, but the flag with the cipher of Haakon VII was
allowed used to the end of 1958 because it took some time to make new flags.
The KNS flag with the cipher of Olav V was used to the end of 1991.Jan Oskar Engene, 11 September 1998

Royal Norwegian Yacht Club since 1991

image byJan Oskar Engene

On 1 January 1992 the latest version of the KNS flag came into use. This
version carries the cipher of Harald V who took over the throne upon the
death of his father, Olav V. King Harald V has two ciphers, one with a Roman
numeral and one with an Arabic numeral. The one with the Roman numeral is
used for the KNS flag. The cipher is in metallic gold colour, outlined in
dark brown and with details in red.Jan Oskar Engene, 11 September 1998

The version with the cipher of King Harald the Fifth is the version I saw
[at the Kiel canal this summer] (since it's the current flag of the Royal
Norwegian Yacht Club). It is indeed a H-cipher with the V in the middle
making it look like an "M".Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 31 October 2001

I found my notes from an occasion here in <A HREF=" no-12-01.html"> Bergen
a couple of years ago at which the three Norwegian tall ships were all in
the inner harbour of Bergen. At that occasionSorlandet of Kristiansand
flew the plain Norwegian civil ensign, Statsraad
Lemkuhl of Bergen flew the yacht ensign andChristian Radich of Oslo
flew thepost ensign.Jan Oskar Engene, 5 June 2001

Burgee of the Kongelig Norsk Seilforening

image byJose C. Alegria

Beside the burgee of the Kongelig Norsk Seilforening which we give
on this page, The Dumpy Pocket Book of Sailing Dinghies and Yachts list
another 27.Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 31 September 2001